This invention relates to a device for cleaning small objects, especially dentures, with a tank containing a cleaning fluid. An agitating disc is rotatably mounted in the tank. A motor is located in a base beneath the tank and includes a coupling disc of a magnetic material.
German Utility Model No. 74 34 605 illustrates a cleaning bath for removable dentures. The bath consists of a tank to hold a fluid with a basket-shaped insert suspended in the tank. The insert is perforated in a sieve-like manner. A magnetically influenceable agitator is mounted to be freely movable inside the tank. The agitator is rotated by a device located beneath the tank which produces a magnetic field. In this device, the denture rests upon the basket-shaped insert inside the tank above the magnetically-influenceable agitator so that the cleaning fluid can rinse all parts of the denture. The agitator itself is mounted on a vertical shaft which in turn is mounted on the bottom of the tank.
In another device of this type (United Kingdom Pat. No. 1,169,417), a disc-shaped vibrator made of thin sheet metal is permanently attached to the bottom of the tank for the cleaning fluid. The vibrator is vibrated by an electromagnet in the base of the unit. The dentures rest on a disc-shaped screen above the vibrator. The screen includes a handle to lift the screen out of the tank with the dentures resting atop it.
A denture cleaner is also known (U.S. Pat. No. 3,421,528) in which an agitating disc, made of magnetic material, is rotatably mounted on a pin. The pin is fastened to the bottom of the tank. The denture is placed in a basket having a handle. The basket has an opening in the vicinity of the agitator disc through which an axial extension of the agitator disc extends upward. The axial extension of the agitator disc is provided with ribs which are designed to ensure that the liquid flows especially intensively over all sides of the denture.
These known devices have the disadvantage that the food residues and other particles which are washed off the dentures continue to float around in the cleaning bath after cleaning is complete, so that the cleaning fluid must be replaced often.
The present invention is designed to provide a denture cleaner with electromagnetic agitation, wherein the cleaning fluid can be used comparatively frequently, and the denture is removable from the cleaning tank without the operator's hand coming in contact with the aggressive cleaning fluid. Further, the foreign particles, which are rinsed off, are removable from the tank without decanting the fluid into another container. Thus, fine filtration of the cleaning fluid is provided without having a disadvantageous effect upon the intensive rinsing of the dentures.